The green economy helps reduce global poverty, according to the UN－Corbina blog

Investing in clean energy and sustainable transportation or find other ways of farming less harmful to the environment help reduce poverty in the world, according to a report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The UN agency released the document to coincide with the start of the meeting to review the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, involving 192 countries and including 140 heads of State or Government.

The report emphasizes that reducing carbon dioxide emissions will not only help achieve a more sustainable environment, but also to achieve other MDGs such as reducing poverty and infant mortality.

"It is increasingly clear that accelerate the transition towards a green economy with low carbon emissions, efficient use of natural resources and generate employment may be the key not only to meet the challenges of sustainability of the twentieth century but also to contribute significantly to achieving other MDGs, "said UNEP executive director Achim Steiner.

The MDGs set in 2000 to reach fifteen years later are to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV virus and AIDS, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

UNEP describes the solutions that various communities around the world have undertaken to create new sustainable projects simultaneously with productive environment for the development of the economy.

One such example is Costa Rica, a country where this kind of sustainable policies have increased by 25% its protected areas of national parks, which has attracted a million visitors a year and generated five million dollars a year only the cost of entry to national parks.

The document, entitled "Report to the green economy policy and the Millennium Development Goals", shows that forests and green areas to rebuild not only makes a better environment but also provides the communities of the nutrients needed for agriculture key in the world's poorest communities.

Another country that offers the example of such sustainable policies is China, whose energy policy have become the second country with more wind power in the world and the biggest exporter of PV.

Only in 2009, China created 300,000 jobs related to wind energy, and the number of employees in clean energy has grown in recent years to reach a million and a half of workers in this energy sector.

Other significant cases mentioned are those of Brazil, where the number of green area per person has soared from one square meter to 50 square meters, and Nepal, where between 2000 and 2005, forest areas have risen by 1.3% This has increased the quality of the soil and improved water supplies.

"The implicit goal of the XXI century is to achieve a sustainable lifestyle and safe for the population in the next four decades will increase by one third," Steiner said, adding that "the challenge was that in September 2000 led to world leaders adopted the eight Millennium Development Goals. "